A *small* asteroid will pass very near Earth Thursday morning. 2020 SW was discovered Friday, September 18th, and is roughly the size of a school bus. The asteroid is estimated to be about 15-33 feet wide.
An asteroid that size would break apart if it entered our atmosphere. That's an important note because this asteroid will fly VERY close to Earth. For reference, the moon is just shy of 240,000 miles away from us. This asteroid will pass within 8% of that distance - around 17,500 miles away. That's closer to Earth than our weather satellites! They orbit the Earth at roughly 22,300 miles above the surface.
Asteroid 2020 SW will make its closest pass to Earth around 7:18 AM Thursday, September 24. The Virtual Telescope project will live stream as the asteroid passes; you can watch that here. If you have a small telescope, you may even be able to see this on your own. Astronomers say 2020 SW won't hit Earth.
